Strategists’ primary goal in Marvel Rivals is to heal their teammates and provide utility. Adam Warlock doesn’t do much healing, but he makes up for it with his incredible damage output.
On March 3, one player asked why Adam Warlock has become so popular after the latest mid-season patch on Feb. 21. Many players joined the discussion and pointed out his damage buffs that made him “basically a DPS.”
The damage seems to be the main reason behind Adam Warlock’s popularity. “The reason is because he got a damage buff. Basically making him a DPS with self heal/team heal,” one player said. “He got buffed and the defense ults got nerfed, so the other hybrid strategists are finally back. Also, flyers and divers are popular right now, and he’s great against them,” another added, pointing to Warlock’s Soul Bond ability.
In the mid-season update, Warlock got a buff to his damage via Quantum Magic (his charged right-click attack). The devs increased its damage from 55 to 60, and its falloff damage from 40 meters from 50 to 60 percent. At close range, that falloff doesn’t matter anyway, which is another reason Warlock is so strong against dive heroes.
But other factors contribute to Warlock’s prowess. One is less dependent on gameplay, and revolves around a skin in the season one battle pass. “I started playing him because I thought the skin looked cool and now I main him,” one player said. “Legitimately the only reason I picked him up and now I’m having a blast playing him,” another added.
Warlock’s Soul Bond’s healing was also increased from 10 to 15 per second. While its main use is to prevent players dying from AoE damage, its healing is important in replenishing health.
